Review

Nature Reviews Cancer 4, 184-196 (March 2004) | doi:10.1038/nrc1297

Tumour-suppressor function in the nervous system

Suzanne J. Baker1 & Peter J. McKinnon1  About the authors

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Tumour suppressors prevent cancer by regulating processes such as cell proliferation and survival. However, their functions are diverse, and are often related to the cell type and tissue context. Mutations of tumour-suppressor genes result in unique outcomes in the nervous system that contrast with their roles in other organs. This is closely related to the cell types in which mutations occur and the developmental stage of the tissues that are affected. How can studying the tissue-specific functions of tumour suppressors in the nervous system help us to understand signalling pathways that are relevant to cancer and what are the therapeutic implications of this?

Author affiliations

  1. Department of Developmental Neurobiology and Department of Genetics and Tumour Cell Biology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.
    Email: peter.mckinnon@stjude.org
    Email: suzanne.baker@stjude.org

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